THE RESURRECTED JESUS IS NOT ANGRY

MARY MAGDALENE DID NOT RUN AWAY FROM CHRIST'S CROSS

Mary Magdalene is one of the few people who remained at Jesus' cross while He was dying. She did not run away like the others. On Sunday at dawn, Magdalene discovered at the tomb that Jesus' body was gone. "They have taken my Lord," she says in despair, "and I do not know where they have laid Him" (John 20:13). Mary was faithful and persistent in her reverence for Jesus. And so it was she who first encountered the resurrected Jesus on that Easter morning.

"Woman, why are you weeping?" Jesus asked her. "Whom are you seeking?"

Thinking He was the gardener, she replied, "Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away."

"Mary!" Jesus called her by name.

She turned and said to Him in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means "Teacher," "Master").

"Do not cling to Me," Jesus said to her. "But go to My brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.'" Magdalene went and announced to the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that He had spoken these things to her. (John 20:15-18)

SHE SAW JESUS THROUGH TEARS

The first person on earth to see Jesus after His resurrection saw Him through tears. And the first words of the New Covenant are a question. It is not an announcement, it is not an answer, it is a question quietly and understandingly posed to a weeping woman.

Jesus asks, "Why are you weeping?"

THE RESURRECTED JESUS IS NOT ANGRY

Jesus, God, simply speaks Mary’s name. The Easter dawn brings a question and a name. Jesus then tells her, "Go to My brothers and say to them..." Mary runs to tell the disciples the incredible news: Jesus has risen from the grave! And more importantly, Jesus is not angry with His so-called "friends." He calls them His brothers and wants them to know that His God is literally their God. Mary Magdalene, because of what she was entrusted with, is considered in some cases the apostle of the apostles, the first witness of the resurrection!

REFINING WITH FIRE IN OUR LIVES

Mary Magdalene's life was completely changed because of Jesus. She demonstrated her faith through many trials and ultimately becomes the apostle of the apostles, the first recipient of the good news that Jesus Christ has risen and lives!

Millions of people are undergoing similar transformations. But it is not automatic. The fact is that Magdalene saw the Lord first because she persevered in her faithfulness through suffering. Jesus also reveals Himself today first to those (and through those) who endure suffering with faithfulness without ceasing to glorify God.

Used with permission from the book by Pete Greig, When God Speaks, published by Rosa.

WHAT DO I LOVE WHEN I LOVE YOU, MY GOD?

I love you, God. You have pierced my heart with Your word. And I have fallen in love with You. Heaven and earth and everything in them tell me to love You. And they do not stop saying this to all people.

But what do I love when I love You, my God? It is not the shape of the body nor transient beauty; it is not the brightness of light, so pleasing to earthly eyes; it is not the sweet melodies of all possible songs; it is not the delightful fragrance of flowers, oils, or perfumes; it is not manna or honey; it is not a beautiful body that would entice to a bodily embrace. This is not what I love when I love my God.

And yet: when I love my God, it is a love for a certain light and a certain voice and a certain fragrance and a certain food and a certain embrace. It is the light, voice, fragrance, food, and embrace of my inner being.

There my soul shines with a light that occupies no space, and there sounds a voice that time does not carry away, and there spreads a fragrance that no wind can disperse, and there can be tasted a flavor of food that does not end when you finish eating, and there remains an embrace that does not end in weariness and boredom.

That is what I love when I love my God.